HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

Posted in Cake, Cookies by

Trying to control my tears, allow me to just focus on the festivities, not the cruel fact that we will have to wait another 365 days to embrace the creepy and scary… I share four different bakes to celebrate the day: two types of cookies, cupcakes, and Chocolate-Covered Oreos.

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LINZER-STYLE GHOST COOKIES

LINZER-STYLE NUTELLA GHOST COOKIES
(from The Bewitching Kitchen)

300 g all-purpose flour (2½ cups, spooned and leveled)
200 g unsalted butter, softened but still cool
100 g powdered sugar (about ¾ cup plus 1 tablespoon)
1 large egg yolk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
¼ teaspoon fine salt

Filling and finishing
Americolor white food gel color
Nutella
black non-pareils

Beat the butter and powdered sugar until smooth and creamy, about 1–2 minutes. Mix in the egg yolk, vanilla and salt. Add the flour and mix just until a soft dough forms. Avoid overmixing.

Divide the dough into two flat discs, wrap, and refrigerate for 30 minutes, until firm enough to roll without sticking. Roll the dough between sheets of parchment to about ⅛ inch (3 mm) thick. Cut matching pairs of cookies using a round, fluted, or heart-shaped cutter. Cut a small window in the center of half the cookies. Transfer to parchment-lined baking sheets.

Paint white Americolor over the cookies that will be the top. Freeze all cookies for 15 minutes then bake at 350F for about 15 minutes, until edges start to get golden. Cool completely on a rack. Fill with Nutella, add little black non-pareils for the eyes.

ENJOY!

to print the recipe, click here

Comments: I wanted to make an almond-free cookie, to avoid having the volunteers at the homeless meal having to deal with possible allergies. This recipe turned out perfect, a similar texture, dough very nice to work with. Yu can use of course seedless raspberry jam instead of Nutella. The idea to paint the white on the top was to avoid having to shower them with powdered sugar. It is nice if you can serve them on a single layer on a platter, but I need to transport them with other cookies in a box, so the powdered sugar is a problem, This was my way to get a similar look without the messy top.

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LITTLE SKULL COOKIES


LITTLE SKULL COOKIES
(from The Bewitching Kitchen)

4 cups (575 grams) all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 cup (226 grams) unsalted butter, softened
1cup (200 grams) granulated sugar
¼ cup agave nectar
1 teaspoon orange baking emulsion (LorAnn)
1 teaspoon caramel flavor (LorAnn)
2 large eggs, room temperature

Whisk the flour, salt and baking powder in a large bowl. Reserve. Whisk the eggs with the flavorings in a small bowl. Reserve.

In the bowl of a KitchenAidd type mixer beat the butter and sugar on medium speed until the mixture is light and
fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add the agave nectar and beat on low speed until well blended, about 1 minute more.

Add the egg mixture in four installments, beating in low-speed until incorporated. Add the flour mixture and continue mixing until the dough pulls away from the sides of the bowl. Divide the dough in two portions, refrigerate for an hour or so.

To make the skulls, add 30g portions to the cavities of a mini skull pan (I used NordicWare). Bake at 350F for about 18 minutes, until the tops are getting golden brown. Remove the cookies to cool on a drying rack. Paint the surface with luster powder purple, brown, gray, or any color you like. You can also just serve them without painting.

ENJOY!

to print the recipe, click here

Comments: Any sugar cookie recipe will work. In this case, because it bakes in the pan, I don’t mind a little baking powder, in fact I prefer to have some leavening agent so that the cookie itself has a lighter texture. You can use vanilla or other flavorings if you like. I often add agave nectar to my cookie dough, a trick I learned from Amber (@sweetambs). The cookies brown a little more and retain moisture longer.

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MARSHMALLOW MONSTERS CUPCAKES

Any particular recipe will work, I used Chocolate cupcakes and vanilla buttercream (American style) for the frosting (check recipes in this post of my recent past). A swirl of orange with a 2D piping tip, sprinkles, and a piece of marshmallow decorated with black Royal icing to add the final touch.

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CHOCOLATE COVERED OREOS

From top left to bottom right: Orange Dyed Candy Melts + black fondant decorations; Orange Dyed Candy Melts + Black Royal icing; Chocolate Transfer Sheet from Evil Cake Genius; Orange Dyed Candy Melts + Black Royal icing

1 YEAR AGO: Happy Halloween!

2 YEARS AGO: Halloween Brownies, Two Ways

3 YEARS AGO: Revving the Engines for Halloween

4 YEARS AGO: Happy Halloween from my Cookie Blog to You!

5 YEARS AGO: Incredibly Simple Carrots

6 YEARS AGO: Sarah Bernhardt’s Cookies

7 YEARS AGO: A Really Big Announcement

8 YEARS AGO: Stir-Fried Chicken in Sesame-Orange Sauce

9 YEARS AGO: Monday Blues

10 YEARS AGO: A New Way to Roast Veggies

11 YEARS AGO: Two Takes on Raspberries

12 YEARS AGO: Spice Cake with Blackberry Puree

13 YEARS AGO: Own Your Kitchen with Cappuccino Panna Cotta

14 YEARS AGO: Chicken Parmigiana, the Thriller

15 YEARS AGO: Wild Mushroom Risotto

16 YEARS AGO: Tartine Bread:  Basic Country Loaf

17 YEARS AGO: Pugliese Bread

SOURDOUGH, HALLOWEEN STYLE

Posted in Breads by

Scary times demand scary breads!

I confess to having way too much fun making breads with a Halloween twist… All formulas were pretty basic, although the ghost one contained semolina flour (I used this basic recipe). The other two were my default recipe that you can find here).

FLOATING GHOST SOURDOUGH

My favorite of this series, I made a little improvised stencil with regular printer paper, so that I could have two contrasting colors, black for the background and white for the ghost. I re-inforced the scoring after 7 minutes of baking, and added paper bits to get the lift.

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JACK SKELLINGTON SOURDOUGH

The crooked smile was not intentional, but I do love that it happened… Very simple to bring this guy to “life”, just score the overall design, and make sure to remove the top layer of dough from the eyes for the best scary effect.

THE FLOATING BAT

I tried this design twice, first time was a complete fail. I am not totally satisfied with this version, but at least it got some resemblance of a bat ready to take off and scare people. I used black luster powder mixed with vodka to paint the creature. And a few bits of paper under the wings once the bread was in the oven for 7 minutes to get the lift.

I hope by now you are very, very scared….

Perhaps I am also having too much fun with ChatGPT…….

1 YEAR AGO: Graveyard Cupcakes

2 YEARS AGO: Muertos Rancheros

3 YEARS AGO: Scary Skull Bakes

4 YEARS AGO: Spicy Citrus Peanut Salad

5 YEARS AGO: Shrimp Stir-Fry, Kung Pao-Inspired

6 YEARS AGO: Cauliflower Steaks with Olive and Caper Salsa

7 YEARS AGO: Twice-Cooked Eggplant

8 YEARS AGO: Turkey Burger, Japanese-Style

9 YEARS AGO: Pumpkin Macarons

10 YEARS AGO: Slow-Cooked Whole Chicken

11 YEARS AGO: Chocolate Zucchini Cake with Chocolate Frosting

12 YEARS AGO: Pecan-Crusted Chicken with Honey-Mustard Dressing

13 YEARS AGO: Bewitching Kitchen on Fire!

14 YEARS AGO: Cashew Chicken Lettuce Wraps

15 YEARS AGO: Chiarello’s Chicken Cacciatore

16 YEARS AGO: Donna Hay’s Thai-Inspired Dinner

17 YEARS AGO: Panettone

PERUVIAN-STYLE CHICKEN AND POTATOES

Posted in Poultry by

This was superb, I highly recommend you give this recipe a try. Contrary to what I normally do, the chicken was roasted at high temperature, but still turned out tender and juicy. The potatoes were incredibly tasty, maybe the best component of the dish. Inspired by a Milk Street version, but I modified it quite a bit.

PERUVIAN-STYLE CHICKEN THIGHS AND POTATOES
(inspired by Milk Street)

3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, divided
½ cup Lager beer
2 tablespoons soy sauce
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
1 tablespoon smoked paprika
2 teaspoons ground cumin
salt and ground black pepper
6 bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs
Yukon Gold potatoes, unpeeled, sliced into ½-inch rounds, enough to cover the surface of your skillet


Make a marinade by mixing in a bowl: 2 tablespoons oil, the beer, soy sauce, vinegar, cumin, 1 teaspoon salt and 2 teaspoons pepper. Add the chicken and turn to coat. Place in a large ziplock bag, close and refrigerate for several hours (I marinated for 4 hours), massaging the pieces of chicken a few times during this period.

Heat the oven to 450°F. Remove the chicken from the marinade; discard the marinade. Pat the chicken dry and season lightly with salt.

In a 12-inch oven-safe skillet over medium-high, heat the remaining 1 tablespoon oil until very hot. Add the potatoes in an even layer and cook until lightly browned at the edges, 2 to 3 minutes. Place the chicken skin side up on top of the potatoes. Transfer the skillet to the oven and roast until the chicken is deeply browned and the thickest part of the leg quarters reach 175°F, about 50 minutes.

Remove the pan from the oven, let rest for about 10 minutes, then transfer the chicken and potatoes to a serving platter.

ENJOY!

to print the recipe, click here


Comments: Yet another recipe that goes straight into our regular rotation, we are hooked! I brought the skillet to the table, but when I do it again, I will definitely transfer everything to a serving platter because… LOOK AT THE POTATOES when you flip them to reveal the side that was in contact with the pan:

Absolute perfection, the fat from the chicken transfer its taste to the potatoes, they turned brown but super moist and tender. I would eat just that for dinner and be a happy camper…

Plus, it is so simple to make, you can even marinate it the day before, the longer the better. I can hardly wait to make it again. And again…

1 YEAR AGO: Spider Web Sourdough Loaf

2 YEARS AGO: Halloween Almond Cookies

3 YEARS AGO: Miso-Honey Chicken Thighs

4 YEARS AGO: Raw Zucchini and Chickpea Salad with Tahini Yogurt

5 YEARS AGO: Black Tahini Shortbread Cookies

6 YEARS AGO: A Fruitful Trio (of Macarons)

7 YEARS AGO: Halloween Entremet Cake

8 YEARS AGO: Pork with Prunes, Olives and Capers

9 YEARS AGO: Kansas Corn Chowder

10 YEARS AGO: Impossibly Cute Bacon and Egg Cups

11 YEARS AGO: Pulling Under Pressure

12 YEARS AGO: Cooking Sous-vide: Two takes on Chicken Thighs

13 YEARS AGO: Miso Soup: A Japanese Classic

14 YEARS AGO: On my desk

15 YEARS AGO: A must-make veggie puree

16 YEARS AGO: Vegetarian Lasagna

17 YEARS AGO: Brazilian Pão de Queijo

CUPCAKES FOR THE SEASON

Posted in Cake by

Almost every week I try to donate a batch of cupcakes to the homeless meal in town. This post includes four recent bakes that celebrate the season of Fall and Scary. Because in this bewitching kitchen, we love both vibes…

The fall inspired cupcakes were this basic recipe with 1 tsp pumpkin spice mixture incorporated in the batter. The Halloween cupcakes were chocolate, using this recipe. The frosting for all of them was a straightforward American buttercream, recipe available in this post.

FALL LEAVES CUPCAKES

My first time trying to decorate cupcakes with a stencil and air-brushing. . It is quite simple, you frost the cupcakes with a blob of vanilla buttercream, and lay them upside down on parchment paper, flattening the surface. Place in the freezer for 10 to 15 minutes. Remove them, carefully lift them right side up, place the stencil over the still frozen surface, and airbrush it.

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PUMPKIN SHAPED CUPCAKES

I loved making this design. Frost the cake with orange dyed buttercream, immediately shower it with orange sanding sugar, and use a chospstick to make indentations in the shape of a pmpkin. Add details with green buttercream and a small round piping tip.

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SPIDER CUPCAKES

Aren’t they the scariest and sweetest? Super easy design. You need white buttercream to frost the surface using a large French style piping tip. A small amount of black buttercream for the details. Little store bought candy eyes, and Oreo cookies. Once you have all these items, it is pretty straightforward: frost, place Oreo, add details, glue eyes.

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LITTLE GHOSTS CUPCAKES

Compared to all other cupcakes, these have little frosting. All you need is white buttercream, first with a large open piping tip, the a small tip for the little arms. Candy corn for the addd cuteness and a very small amount of black frosting for the eyes and mouth.

I hope this post will inspire you to bake some cupcakes before Halloween comes and goes…

1 YEAR AGO: Friendly Ghost Cupcakes (no fondant!)

2 YEARS AGO: Semolina Sourdough

3 YEARS AGO: Incredibly Simple, times three

4 YEARS AGO: Chile Rellenos

5 YEARS AGO: Vietnamese “Pizza”

6 YEARS AGO: Chocolate Bonbons with Mango-Ganache Filling

7 YEARS AGO: Giant Cookie Meets Mousse

8 YEARS AGO: The Brazilian Battenberg

9 YEARS AGO: Salzburg Sourdough

10 YEARS AGO: If I had One Hour

11 YEARS AGO: Apple Cinnamon Oatmeal Cake

12 YEARS AGO: Sourdough Rye Bread with Flaxseeds and Oats

13 YEARS AGO: Apricot-Raspberry Sorbet: A farewell to Summer

14 YEARS AGO: Marcela’s Salpicon

15 YEARS AGO: Pork Kebabs

16 YEARS AGO: Fondant au Chocolat

17 YEARS AGO: Got Spinach? Have a salad!

PINWHEEL COOKIES, TWO WAYS

Posted in Cookies by

Pinwheel cookies are a lot of fun to make, but if you want them to look really nice, precision is key. Rolling both colors of dough to the same extension and similar thickness, although you can also make one dough slightly thicker for a different final look. The first one is quite appropriate for Halloween. I flavored it with black sesame and orange.

BLACK SESAME AND ORANGE PINWHEEL COOKIES
(from The Bewitching Kitchen)

1 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1 tsp orange emulsion (I used LorAnn)
1/2 tsp kosher salt
2 cups flour
1 tsp black sesame seed powder dissolved in 1 tablespoon warm water
orange and black food gel dye

Cream the butter, powdered sugar and salt using a KitchenAind type mixer for a couple of minutes. Add the orange emulsion, mix until combined. Add the flour and salt, mix until almost fully combined. Divide the dough exactly in two and add to one half the orange dye, a few drops. To the second half, add the dissolved sesame paste and a few drops of black food gel. Form each dough as a rectangle and place in the fridge for 10 minutes.

Roll each dough into roughly 8 x 11 inches – that is about the size of a regular sheet of printer paper, so I like to place a sheet underneath the parchment paper to visualize the dimension to roll it. Stack both doughs with parchment paper separating them and place in the fridge for 30 minutes.

Remove from the fridge, place the dark dough over a clean piece of parchment, add the orange dough on top of it. Make sure both doughs are properly aligned, and trim the edges if needed. Refrigerate, cover with plastic wrap for 30 minutes. Remove from the fridge and roll the dough as a sausage, starting at the longest edge. Wrap with plastic and refrigerate at least one hour.

Heat the oven to 350F. Cut 1/4 inch slices of the dough, place over parchment paper on a baking sheet. Bake for 15 to 18 minutes, until set and slightly darker at the edges. Cool completely on a rack. Cookies keep well for a few days stored in a closed container at room temperature.

ENJOY!

to print the recipe, click here

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CHOCOLATE-VANILLA PINWHEELS

Use the same exact dough, but flavor it with vanilla extract. For the darker dough, add 2 teaspoons cocoa powder dissolved in 1 tablespoon warm water.

Comments: You can roll the dough over cocoa nibs before slicing the cookies, but I did not like that effect very much, so I did only half of it that way. These cookies have a delightful crumbly texture, and are not very sweet, as the black sesame and the cocoa powder cut the sugar intensity a bit. This basic formula can be used for countless flavors and color combinations, of course. I hope you give it a try!

1 YEAR AGO: Fifteen Years with an Oscar Winner!

2 YEARS AGO: Semolina Sourdough

3 YEARS AGO: Incredibly Simple, times three

4 YEARS AGO: Chile Rellenos

5 YEARS AGO: Vietnamese “Pizza”

6 YEARS AGO:  Chocolate Bonbons with Mango-Ganache Filling

7 YEARS AGO:  Giant Cookie Meets Mousse

8 YEARS AGO: The Brazilian Battenberg

9 YEARS AGO: Salzburg Sourdough

10 YEARS AGO: If I had One Hour

11 YEARS AGO: Apple Cinnamon Oatmeal Cake

12 YEARS AGO: Sourdough Rye Bread with Flaxseeds and Oats

13 YEARS AGO: Apricot-Raspberry Sorbet: A farewell to Summer

14 YEARS AGO: Marcela’s Salpicon

15 YEARS AGO: Pork Kebabs

16 YEARS AGO: Fondant au Chocolat

17 YEARS AGO: Got Spinach? Have a salad!